Stop First Kernow's Price Hikes

Petition Background (Preamble):

From 2008 - 2014, The price of an all-day ticket on First buses in Cornwall has risen from £5.50 to £10.00, an increase of 81%. Travel Shops have been closed and others had their hours reduced.

Many bus services have been reduced or axed completely, leaving the consumer with less buses, less customer service, and less choice.

Cornwall is one of the poorest counties in the UK, with some of the highest property values and utility bills. The increase imposed by first kernow will only serve to make traveling around the county more unaffordable, and will subsequently make life more difficult for the residents of Cornwall.

What Cornwall needs is an affordable bus service that provides the consumer with affordable travel to the rural areas the need it the most.

Petition:

From January 2014, First Kernow will increase fares throughout Cornwall.

In the last 6 years, the price of a Day Ticket has risen from £5.50 in 2008 to £10.00 in 2014; an average of 13.5% each year. The cost of child tickets and many other single and return fares will also increase.

They claim that this is to simplify the ticket types and provide a service that is easier to understand. They also claim that new policies such as scrapping Dog Fares and lengthening the valid use time of a return ticket will make the new fares fairer. However, this cannot justify the lack of choice the new system will offer, with no ticket option beyond a monthly pass, the cost of 1 year's unlimited travel will skyrocket from £810.00 to £1200.00.

Over the last 5 years, First have also taken the decision to close Camborne Travelshop and shorten the hours that their Penzance and Truro Travel Shops are open. This means that if you live in the Camborne/ Redruth Area and wish to find out some information or make a complaint, you may have to either call their premium rate number or even pay to travel on their buses in order to reach a travel shop that is open.

First also claim that their fares are due to Cornwall's rural nature. However, in Devon, an equally if not more rural landscape, the cost of an all-day ticket remains at £5.00

We, the undersigned, call upon First Kernow to reconsider their ticket prices and the damaging effect they are having on the people of Cornwall.

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